Editing Nobledark Imperium Imperial Society and Culture (section)

== The Trial of Idrathal  ==

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The events that led to what would be considered M33’s “Trial of the Millennium” began with what should have been an absolutely normal military operation on the planet of Thanoa. The planet was rebelling under the influence of the Dark Gods, though the Governor of that planet had been so disgruntled that it had only taken the merest of whispers from the Chaos to convince the planet to rebel. As a result, the fighting on Thanoa was less daemons and cultists and more booby traps and asymmetric warfare. The planet had an extensive series of bunkers and tunnels just underneath its surface, and as the Imperium fought to control the planet it was necessary for the Imperial Guard to clear out these networks to flush out the rebels.
 
In order to in clear the tunnels on Thanoa, the guard regiments stationed on the planet were divided into smaller groups in order to sweep the underground network for rebels and booby traps. One of these squads was composed of ten human Imperial Guardsmen and one Eldar auxiliary named Idrathal. After clearing a chamber filled with actual members of the [[Nobledark_Imperium_Chaos_Guard|Lost and the Damned]], as opposed to merely rebels, Idrathal went to watch the entryway as his human comrades secured the room when he heard a tiny click. Idrathal had heard that sound far too often over the last few days, and recognized it exactly for what it was: the arming of an improvised bomb. Looking up, Idrathal saw he had activated a motion sensor tied to a cobbled-together anti-personnel mine. Time seemed to freeze in that moment. Idrathal was fast, but there was no way he could throw himself out of the way of the bomb in the close confines of the narrow passage, much less warn the others of the danger at the same time. Idrathal was just able to turn to his comrades and yell out “Bomb!” before everything went ploin-shaped.
 
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At that exact moment, however, an Eldar Warlock appeared, grabbing Idrathal and dragging the two of them into the nearby hallway. All ten of Idrathal’s squadmates died in the blast. Idrathal was furious and demanded to know why the Warlock had done what he did. The Warlock replied that he had some talent in seeing the future and had seen that Idrathal was about to die, and so did what needed to be done. It was not like Idrathal should be concerned; the only ones who died were mon-keigh. This did not assuage Idrathal, who said that it had been his choice to die in that moment and the Warlock had no right to interfere the way he did.

 
That should have been the end of it; the battle for Thanoa had been so chaotic that no one would have noticed the death of ten humans to a booby trap. But Idrathal insisted on making a point, and there was just enough evidence of foul play that the Imperium could not sweep this incident under the rug. By his own request, Idrathal was arrested and tried by a military tribunal for the purported murder of his ten squadmates. The jury would consist of twelve individuals: six human military officers and six Eldar Autarchs. It was acknowledged that with an even number of jurors it was possible the trial would end in a deadlock, but it was the only way to ensure a fair outcome by the standards of both humans and Eldar.
 
The trial caused a ruckus in many aspects of human society. To human supremacists — particularly those who did not know that an Eldar had brought charges against himself — this was just further proof that the Eldar were only out to save their own skin, no matter whose bodies nor how many they had to step over to do so. For the Eldar, the implications of this trial were more grave; for many years there had been a general sentiment among many sections of the Eldar populace that humans were considered expendable. “Better that a hundred mon-keigh die to save one Eldar” had been a common saying behind closed doors in many craftworlds. However, this aspect of Eldar society was something that had generally not been made public knowledge to the non-Eldar parts of the Imperium. Acting like a superior species was one thing, but actually going to far as to be willing to sacrifice your allies to save yourself was something that would threaten to tear the alliance apart. Even the Steward and Isha were asked for comment, though both said that they were not going to say something that would prevent justice from taking its course.
 
Several things rapidly became clear once the trial was underway. First, Idrathal had been much closer to the deceased guardsmen than anyone had realized. He had not just been assigned to the same regiment as them, he had trained with them and knew them personally, to the point that the eleven of them had volunteered to form a squad when the division was split up to clear the tunnels. Second, although some had dismissed (or denied) the idea that a Warlock had been present, evidence indicated that the Warlock had actually been there. Although Idrathal had been offered a human lawyer or a representative of the Path of the Judge, he declined. A human lawyer would make it seem like the trial had been motivated by human interests, and an Enforcer would merely work to make sure Idrathal got off scot-free. As a result, Idrathal represented himself at the trial, though with a few legal advisors. Not having walked the Path of the Judge, Idrathal was prone to making legal blunders and over-representing himself, but had enough simple charisma (at least, by Eldar standards) to resonate with the jurors and the general public.
 
However, Idrathal was also canny enough to know the political implications of the trial, and thus used them to his advantage. This was best represented in the question he posed near the end of the trial, the one that would end being the most historic statement of the entire affair. Something that, although not directly referring to the topic of Eldar supremacy, struck deep at the heart of the issue.
 
“If an Eldar was willing to sacrifice their life in the knowledge that it would save a thousand other Eldar, would that be morally acceptable?”
 
Here was the same question that had plagued the Eldar all throughout the trial, but worded in a way that the Eldar could not simply dismiss with claims of being a superior species. Idrathal said that he worked with the humans he called comrades not only out of personal connection, but because it was to the benefit of all Eldar to do so. Idrathal knew that those ten could accomplish more on the battlefield than he himself could, and that if he had to make the same choice he would have done it again because it was for the good of the Eldar. If a choice had to be made between the two, it would have been more beneficial to the Eldar for his human comrades to survive, rather than himself.
 

The tribunal ultimately voted to convict Idrathal by a verdict of 8-4, with one human and three Autarchs voting no — apparently something in Idrathal's speech about an Eldar being willing to sacrifice themselves for the good of their race as a whole had resonated with three of the old Autarchs. Idrathal was sentenced to twenty years imprisonment and restitution to the families of those who had been unjustly killed by his actions on the battlefield — something Idrathal had personally been planning to do regardless of the outcome of the trial. It was little more than a slap on the wrist, but Idrathal felt that at least some semblance of justice had been done.
 
After serving his — somewhat self-imposed — penance, Idrathal joined the Path of the Warrior and eventually become an Exarch. However, he never attained much in the way of respect or military ranking, with the specter of the trial constantly hanging over him his entire life. Many of the more anti-human Eldar saw him as a blood traitor for being willing to sacrifice his life for the lives of humans. Late in his life, Idrathal became a liaison between the Eldar military and the human parts of the Imperial Guard, his reputation actually working in his favor for once. In the mashed-up mess of customs and superstition one could almost call a religion in the Imperial Guard, Idrathal is seen as a figure of veneration. He is seen as a figure of military justice, representing the inescapable hand of retribution for those who died unjust deaths on the battlefield, no matter how long it took.
 
As for the Warlock who originally precipitated this whole turn of events, and whom many would say was the actual guilty party in this debacle, very little is known; the Warlock mysteriously disappeared from the public eye shortly after the fiasco had occurred, but before charges could actually be levelled at him, and never actually appeared at the tribunal. Some say that he went to join Craftworld Dorhai, where his views would be more readily accepted. Others claim that he was spirited away by some [[Nobledark_Imperium_Forces_of_Chaos#Luther|galactic Eldar conspiracy]], and became one of the most powerful Farseers in the Imperium. The truth, however, is perhaps far more anticlimactic; the Warlock lived a full — if reclusive — life and died on the Path of the Seer, though he notably kept his head down to avoid getting on the greater Imperium’s general radar.

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